Crypts
The Monastery of Saint Walpurga"Arriving at at a crossroads, which was marked by a weathered roadside shrine, Soren pointed to the right. "''That road leads to the monastery of Saint Walpurga, which means that the keep is straight ahead of us, only a short distance away. We should spy the tower anon"." ~ ''Blood Enemy novelization, chapter 5"Angry voices echoed through the forest behind Lucian, accompanied by the clamor of heavy boots crashing through the underbush, as he caught sight of the monastery of Saint Walpurga, an austere brick edifice distinguished by gabled roofs and an adjacent church." ~ Blood Enemy novelization, chapter 6 is a location that appears only in the non-canon novel, Blood Enemy. The monastery is located somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, not too far northwest of a fortified way station outpost where a Vampire company is attacked by humans"A crude roadside shrine appeared before Lucian's mind's eye. Had not Soren said something about a monastery in this vicinity, somewhere to the northwest?" ~ Blood Enemy novelization, chapter 6. Description Dedicated to Saint Walpurga, the monastery above ground is an austere brick edifice distinguished by gabled roofs and an adjacent church. Stained-glass windows adorn the upper stories of the abbey, (shattered since the monastery fell prey to a pack of marauding wild Lycans in 1201 AD), while a sculpted representation of the The Madonna and Child looks down onto the wide stone steps from up in a niche which is situated above the front entrance of the church with its great oak wood doors, while there is a bell tower at the rear of the chapel. The monastery also features dormitories and a reflectory. Since the massacre, the local population believes it cursed and haunted. Underground, there is a winding network of tunneled catacombs and crypts that had been carved out into the chalky limestone bedrock through decades of hard labour, which are accessible by a spiraling case of granite steps, located through an arched doorway at the far end of the church's southern transept. Here, the bones of generations of monks of the brotherhood of Saint Walpurga have been lain to rest in respective individual niches carved into the walls, until the monastery fell prey to a pack of marauding wild Lycans in 1201 AD. Within this underground labyrinth, there is a large chamber that is different from the others: "The light of Lucian's torch revealed a spacious crypt grotesquely decorated with human bones. Skulls, vertebrae, ribs, scapulae, clavicles, and more were arranged on the walls and ceilings in intricate patterns. Columns of craniums, all brown with age, reached to the vaulted ceiling, where the skeletal figure of the Grim Reaper was depicted entirely in artfully placed bones. More skulls formed graceful arches above the supine forms of mummified monks. Slender arm and leg bones, laid knob to knob, framed macabre rosettes composed of mounted ribs and vertebrae. Even the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were made of dusty clavicles radiating outward from upside-down skulls. Everywhere Lucian looked, he saw dried bones put to some bizarre use. He could not even begin to calculate how many human skeletons must have been required to create this charnel display, or how many hours the holy brothers of Saint Walpurga must have spent to create this ghoulish celebration of mortality." ''Blood Enemy'' Months prior to the Strasba mob, led by Brother Ambrose, made their first move against Castle Corvinus, the monastery fell prey to a marauding pack of wild Lycans"Rats scurried away as, clutching Sonja's shrouded form, Lucian passed through the vestibule into the vaulted chapel of the abbey. Evidence of ruin and abandonment presented itself wherever he gazed. Dark brown bloodstains discolored the tiled floor of the church, which smelled of dried blood and piss. The lectern lay on its side before a desecrated alter that some rough beast had clearly marked with its scent. The torn pages of shredded hymnals littered the floor and pews, along with overturned collection plates and reliquaries. Dust and cobwebs testified to weeks, if not months, of neglect. A bloody pawprint, stamped on the floor of the sanctuary, left no doubt in Lucian's mind about what had occurred here. ''The renegades! he realized as the roots of Brother Ambrose's murderous crusade became clear. Clearly, the vulnerable monastery had fallen prey to the same marauding pack of Werewolves that had been wreaking havoc in this territory for months, explaining the monk's vengeful invocation of his "martyred brothers." From the looks of things, Brother Ambrose may well have been the only survivor of this monastic bloodbath." ~ ''Blood Enemy novelization, chapter 6, who butchered and devoured all of the monks save one, Brother Ambrose, who was driven into a zealot madness, seeking to campaign to wipe out all "Demons". After giving the leftover bones of his clerical brothers an Christian burial"Despite the ample evidence of carnage, no corpses remained for the rats to feast on. No doubt, Brother Ambrose had seen to a proper Christian burial of whatever fleshless bones the ravening Werewolves had left behind." ~ Blood Enemy novelization, chapter 6, Brother Ambrose left the violated monastery behind in search of followers. He would find able-bodied men he could whip up into a frenzy in the little village of Strasba. A Vampire princess, Sonja, and a Lycan slave, Lucian, arrive at the crypts just after sunrise, fleeing an attack on their group that killed Sonja's mother, the Lady Ilona. Down in the crypts, Sonja is able to hide from the sun, which had burned many of the members of her group during the attack. Lucian and Sonja spend the day in the crypts, and get to know each other, (leading to a romance that eventually ends in Sonja's death). The pair leave the crypts as soon as night falls and the full moon has risen. Centuries later, in 2002, the monastery is again witness to an event of Immortal history; having at some point in the late 20th Century been acquired by an arms dealer, Leonid Florescu, and renovated into his 'country compound'. The compound's defenses include, among other things, a "T-two remote-controlled weapons platform," and the nerve centre for all of it is located down in the catacombs beneath the monastery. After being seized by a Lycan named Leyba, two teams of Death Dealers, led by Kahn and Selene respectively, Kahn's team storming the compound, and Selene's team who infiltrate the estate to eliminate Leyba and avenge the death of a fellow Death Dealer. References fr:Cryptes es:Criptas Category:Locations Category:Blood Enemy locations